Baseball diamond rehab latest in Jayne Field complex renovation

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The Jayne Field recreational complex is receiving some major upgrades this spring, including refurbished baseball diamonds and a renovated recreational center.

The massive recreational space on Conant near the northern border with Hamtramck is having its main baseball diamond, Field No. 4, refurbished thanks to a collaborative effort led Chevrolet to renew baseball fields in urban areas. The volunteers cleaned up the field, painted the dug out and bleachers and prepped it for a professional makeover by Ripken Design and Scotts Miracle-Gro.

Chris Perry, vice president of global marketing for Chevrolet, says this will be the first field makeover the automaker takes on this year. The bottom line is wants to "turn this into a field of dreams for Detroit" and the 1,400 kids who will play on it this summer as part of the Think Detroit PAL's summer recreational baseball league.

Think Detroit PAL, the city's Recreation Dept and the Detroit Economic Growth Corp also are aiding in the renovation of the field. The Detroit Tigers Foundation also lent a hand because it regularly uses the baseball fields at Jayne Field for its Detroit Tigers Hometown Championship series in August for the youth baseball teams in the city.

The Detroit Recreation Department is also in the midst of other renovations to the recreational complex, which hasn't been extensively upgraded in about 20 years, and planning for more. It recently received a $300,000 grant from the state to renovate the other fields in the complex next year. It is also spending more than $1 million upgrading the Lasky Recreation Center on the complex and adding other things a climbing wall.

"We're trying to make this a true recreational complex," says Sue Norander, general manager of operations for the Detroit Recreation Dept. "We'll be adding walking paths and replacing the playscape."